Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-28

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The graph below gives information about the number of jobs in four sectors of the economy in the US between 1960 and 2020.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Number of jobs in four sectors of the economy in the US, 1960-2020

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Introduction: The line graph illustrates information about the number of different workers/jobs in three sectors in the development of the US between 1960 and 2020.Overview: Overall, manufacturing was the most demanding profession over the 60-year period, whereas healthcare started lowest in the beginning and then saw a sudden rise to become the highest-paying (highest employment) profession by the last year. Conversely, agriculture saw a sharp decline.Body Paragraph 1 (Healthcare & Agriculture): Healthcare jobs started with 3 million, saw a sudden rise, and reached around 10 million by 2020. In 1960, agriculture and retail started with 6 million. However, agriculture declined to 4 million. After tracking with healthcare, agriculture faced a sharp decline and remained around 1.5 million at the end.Body Paragraph 2 (Retail & Manufacturing): Retail started with 6 million jobs in the US, saw a significant rise above agriculture, and met with manufacturing at 15.5 million.At that point, they did not stop and instead continued to rise, meeting healthcare at 16 million. Although manufacturing jobs started higher than all other professions, there was a significant rise during the 20-year period between 1960 and 1980. Afterward, it experienced a steady decline, eventually reaching around 13 million in the final year."

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

You have successfully identified the main trends and provided a clear overview. However, there are significant inaccuracies in your data reporting. For instance, you mention 'four sectors' in the introduction but only discuss three in the text, and your description of the data points (e.g., claiming healthcare started at 3 million and reached 10 million) does not align with the provided graph. Furthermore, you describe manufacturing as 'highest-paying', which is an interpretation not supported by the prompt, which only tracks the 'number of jobs'. To improve, ensure you carefully cross-reference your figures with the visual data and avoid adding external assumptions about salary or job demand.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is logically organised into an introduction, overview, and two body paragraphs. You use some cohesive devices like 'conversely', 'however', and 'although' to link ideas. However, the progression within paragraphs is sometimes confusing due to the inaccurate data reporting. For example, the transition in the second body paragraph regarding the intersection of retail and manufacturing is difficult to follow because the description of the trends is inconsistent with the visual information. Improving the clarity of your referencing and ensuring that your logical flow matches the actual data trends will help you achieve a higher band score.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'significant rise', 'steady decline', and 'profession'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice, such as using 'demanding' to describe a sector based on employment numbers, which is imprecise. Additionally, the confusion between 'jobs' and 'paying' indicates a need for more careful selection of terminology. While your vocabulary is sufficient to convey the general meaning, you should aim to use more precise academic collocations to describe trends, such as 'upward trajectory' or 'marked fluctuation', rather than relying on simpler descriptive phrases.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'Although manufacturing jobs started higher... there was a significant rise'. While your meaning is generally clear, there are occasional grammatical slips and awkward phrasings, such as 'met with manufacturing at 15.5 million' and 'tracking with healthcare'. These errors do not impede communication, but they do limit the sophistication of your writing. To reach a higher band, focus on increasing the variety of your complex structures and ensuring that your subject-verb agreement and preposition usage are consistently accurate throughout the response.

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